Economic theory states that scarcity increases prices; but, exactly the opposite occurs. People share with their neighbors.

Widespread power outages is the definition of scarcity. The people people without electricity clearly have a need. Why didn’t it lead to massive profit taking? In a real free market there is another choice, it’s call charity.

The person sharing their electricity didn’t have a scarcity, they had an abundance, more than they needed. The value of helping people in need outweighed any monetary profit or the hassle involved in selling access to electricity. This situation shows that given the choice people gladly share. If there isn’t a significant cost involved sharing people will share.

It was easy to predict that 3D printing would be able to make electronic parts. The process Rice uses probably doesn’t actually need 3D printing to work but it fits the concept. Multiple layers of different materials are sprayed on a surface to create a battery.

Circuits are already being made using normal 2D printers by varying the thickness of the traces to create resistors and conductors. By using a 2 or 3 different materials the full range of electronic parts could be printed directly into the circuit so a robot could literally print a copy of itself. Stratasys and Optomec have already printed electronics.

The spray-on battery will make it easier to build batteries of different shapes and sizes. It will also make it possible for nearly anyone to make batteries anywhere in the world. This can drastically reduce the real costs in terms of time and materials.